Referee training company slams FA

A COMPANY planning to offer training courses to referees in Hemel to tackle a shortage of officials has blasted the FA for ‘gross ineptitude bordering on negligence.’

Referee Jobs, which specialises in training and placing referees within 5 and 6-a-side leagues, said they were forced into acting after they felt the men and women in black were under appreciated by the football authorities.

Spokesman Stuart Dawson said Referee Jobs came about in a bid to attract referees back to the game after they had been lost.

The recent drain of officials has meant, in some areas, games have been forced to be cancelled.

And Mr Dawson laid the blame for this squarely at the FA’s door. “Time and time again we hear fine words from the FA but their actions amount to little more than platitudes,” he said.

“The respect programme is a shambles and really, the way they have handled the game recently, you could easily accuse them of gross ineptitude – it almost borders negligence in actual fact.”

It was as a result of frustration at the FA’s policies – and in particular to those regarding 5 and 6-a-side football – that Referee Jobs was born.

It aims to train referees in the specific laws of the small sided game – something the FA is particularly bad at according to Mr. Dawson.

However, he was keen to stress that they were happy to place a fully-trained referee with any league in the area, including FA-affiliated ones:

“As long as the league meets our standards and looks after the referees properly, then we don’t mind who it is affiliated to,” he said.

For more information on the training courses, which take place at Hemel Town FC, please visit www.referee-jobs.co.uk or email info@referee-jobs.co.uk